by Steve Wieberg, Special for USA TODAY Sports

by Steve Wieberg, Special for USA TODAY Sports

Mississippi hadn't made an appearance in the NCAA tournament in 11 years, and hadn't won there in 12. La Salle? The star of its last team to survive more than a single game stood in a back corner of the Explorers' locker room Friday. There was grey in Lionel Simmons' beard.

It had been a couple of decades.

The two underdogs, the 12th and 13th seeds in the tournament's West Region, inflicted more damage on a fractured bracket in a matter of hours here Saturday. Marshall Henderson erupted for 17 points in the final 11Â½ minutes â?? outscoring Wisconsin by himself â?? as Ole Miss took down No. 5 Wisconsin 57-46. La Salle then roared to an 18-point halftime lead, let it get away, and gutted out an even more remarkable, 63-61 victory over No. 4 Kansas State.

"You know who the powerhouses are, but anybody can win," said a smiling Simmons, wearing jeans and a grey La Salle T-shirt. "It's a tough game."

La Salle coach John Giannini said: "The reason you see these scores is everyone takes basketball seriously. People have great commitments. You look across the country, whether it's salaries, budgets, facilities. People want to be here where we are right now, and people are willing to invest to do that.

"And I'm telling you: Everyone's good."

Wisconsin had tied for fourth in the nation's best conference, the Big Ten, during the regular season. Kansas State shared the Big 12 championship with Kansas. But on this day, Mississippi and La Salle were better. A night earlier, also in the West, Harvard was better than Mountain West champion New Mexico.

If you're keeping score, that sweeps away the third, fourth and fifth seeds in the region. Mississippi (27-8) and La Salle (23-9) will meet Sunday for a berth in the tournament's Sweet 16 â?? a third game in five days for the Explorers, who drew a First Four assignment to Dayton and opened Wednesday with a win over Boise State.

"We don't have time time to be tired and sore," said senior guard Rodney Galloway, who scored 19 points against Kansas State. "We're just living in the moment, taking every chance."

La Salle last played into the NCAA field in 1992. It last won a game two years before that, when Simmons was an All-American.

The last time the Explorers won twice in the tournament: 1955, when Tom Gola was their star and they lost in the championship game to Bill Russell and San Francisco.

They blitzed Kansas State in Friday's first half, shooting 58%, and taking an 18-point lead into halftime.

In less than six minutes of the second half it was half-gone as the bigger, physical Wildcats (27-8) asserted themselves inside. They moved ahead with a little more than seven minutes left, when Rodney McGruder scored on a follow shot and 6-11 senior Jordan Henriquez hit a free throw. It was 58-56.

"We're're no different than a lot of teams. We think you can win with defense," Giannini said. "We kept challenging our guys defensively, just kept telling them, 'We'll be all right if we get some stops.' "

They would, the energy K-State spent in coming back also factored in. The Wildcats hit just one field goal in the game's final seven-plus minutes.

La Salle's Jerrell Wright, meanwhile, was scoring his team's last nine points, the last seven from the foul line. Down one, he hit a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left. He added one more with 9.6 seconds left.

The 6-8 sophomore forward finished with 21 points, adding eight rebounds and a couple of blocks.

K-State point guard Angel Rodriguez dribbled to the baseline in the final seconds, a pro-Wildcats crowd roaring in Kansas City's Sprint Center. And under heavy defensive pressure, he put up a shot that never reached the rim.

Wildcats' star senior, Rodney McGruder, shot just 5-for-17 en route to a subpar 13 points. He called the loss: "The worst feeling in the world."

His last miss was excruciating: a three-point attempt from the right corner that went in and out with 30.5 seconds left.

Henriquez finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds, but was just 3-for-8 from the foul line.

Said Giannini, "You don't make it this far without three things. 'Being talented. A little bit of luck.

"The third thing is you ought to be mentally tough. â?¦ To our guys' credit, the mental toughness part, they've developed especially over the last year."

Navigating the Atlantic 10 Conference â?? now 6-0 in the NCAA tournament â?? didn't hurt. La Salle tied for third during the regular-season with Temple, behind St. Louis and Butler.

Ole Miss was only on the edge of the NCAA radar before it put together a three-game run through the Southeastern Conference tournament last weekend, beating Florida in the championship game to join the NCAA field for the first time since 2002.

Henderson was instrumental in keeping the Rebels there for at least two more days.

Initially off his game, missing shot after shot after shot, the usually animated star found himself fighting off doubt and disbelief as the minutes ticked away in his NCAA debut .

"I was sitting by Murph (teammate Murphy Holloway) on the bench," he said, "and was, like, 'Man, if I don't pick this up, it's going to be my fault. I don't want it to be my fault."

His struggles, the doubts, they all disappeared.

After missing 12 of his previous 13 shots, he nailed a three-pointer with 11:23 left that cut a six-point Wisconsin lead to 36-33. Forty seconds later, he hit another from the right corner to tie it.

"Coach (Andy) Kennedy has told me I've got to be, what is it?" Henderson said, glancing in his direction during the postgame press conference.

"Serial killer," Kennedy said. "But we won't say that in this environment."

Said Kennedy, "We've seen this show before. It doesn't matter (when Henderson is missing). A lot of guys, you go 0-for-5, it's going to be a long night (and) you go 5-for-5, it's going to be a great night.

"As long as he's taking shots within our offense, our guys understand that. We were getting him looks, and he made some big ones. Once he makes one or two, feed Henderson."

The SEC's leading scorer went just 6-for-21 from the field, hitting three of 12 shots behind the three-point arc, but finished with 19 points. Forward Reginald Buckner had nine points, 12 rebounds and five blocks, the latter key to a stellar Ole Miss defensive effort.

Wisconsin had no answer for the Rebels' unyielding 2-3 zone, unable to penetrate, unsuccessful at shooting over it. The Badgers (23-12) made just seven of their 30 three-point attempts.

They scored just four times from the field in the final 11:23. When Mississippi's Holloway scored on a tip-in, then got a steal and a layup with 8:33 left, the Rebels went ahead 40-39. For good, it turned out.

The win was Mississippi's first in the tournament since reaching the Sweet 16 in 2001.

"Sometimes," Henderson said, recalling his early shooting struggles, "I just sit back and just kind of smile and laugh at myself. Like, how is this happening? I've shot, like, 20 hundred million shots in my days and why is it, now that I've the NCAA tournament? â?¦ I was, like, 'Man, I'm a fluke.' "